WiMax is essentially radio technology that promises to deliver two-way Internet access at speeds of up to 75 megabits per second at long range. Its backers claim that WiMax can transmit data up to 30 miles between broadcast towers and can blanket areas more than a mile in radius with bandwidth that exceeds current DSL and cable broadband capabilities.
As a result, some believe that it could slash the cost of bringing broadband to remote areas and potentially open the doors to new broadband competition, leading to lower prices and faster consumer adoption.
In a campaign speech Wednesday, United States Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry sang the praises of wireless broadband as a fix for the anemic state of the country's Internet fabric, which lags other developed nations such as South Korea. But the technology is still in the early test stage, and many of its claims have yet to be proven in real applications.
With Thursday's blessing from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), a technology that has been mostly hype finally has a chance to start proving itself.
"There is now an agreed-upon technical base for these (WiMax products), which is essential, if you're going to have interoperability leading to mass market adoption and low-cost service (for wireless broadband access)," said Craig Mathias, an analyst at research firm Farpoint Group.
Unwiring the last mile
WiMax, short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is the latest -- and so far, the most promising -- of the wireless "last mile" broadband technologies. Carriers see WiMax as a means of connecting rural or remote areas with broadband service, something that would be technically, physically or economically difficult to do by burying wire for DSL or cable connections. In congested cities, equipment makers say, WiMax products could shift traffic to help relieve heavy demand on broadband networks.
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